Hand Papermaking’s 2019 Year-End Broadside is here! And it is the stunning result of an amazing collaboration between three Pacific Northwest creative spirits: poet Kathleen Flenniken, papermaker Mary Ashton, and printer Jessica Spring.

With art direction by Hand Papermaking board member Alta Price, “The Language of Making” was printed at Springtide Press in the fall of 2019 to benefit Hand Papermaking, Inc. This poem has not been collected or published in any of Flenniken’s works. The base paper is a white text sheet composed of 25% abaca, 75% cotton fibers, with color blocks pulp-painted in red-pigmented, 100% cotton fibers. The print was composed and letterpress printed using Artcraft metal type and vintagewood type by Jessica Spring of Springtide Press.

Please consider donating today to Hand Papermaking’s annual Year-End Fundraising Campaign. Only the first 100 supporters who donate $125 or more will receive this year’s stunning, inspiring, limited-edition broadside!

Your annual gift, whether it’s $1 or $1,000, directly supports Hand Papermaking as a contemporary, innovative, and forward-thinking organization that advocates for the art and traditions of handmade paper. Please donate and help Hand Papermaking continue to remain vibrant for many years to come. Thank you!

IN BETWEEN is the title of our lucky thirteenth portfolio, and we seek visually compelling and thought-provoking submissions. Open to broad interpretation, entries that consider the theme both formally and conceptually are encouraged. For example, thinking formally might suggest double couching, embedding between layers, or working between mediums. Thinking conceptually might suggest liminal spaces, not going to either extreme, the middle way, or might explore the undefined, the unfit.

Proposals should demonstrate how the artist plans to use handmade paper in a substantive way as one of the primary mediums. We invite all manner of mark making, both on and in the sheet, but preference will be given to submissions that emphasize hand papermaking processes in the development of the image. Each piece should be 10 x 8 inches or less, and no more than 1/8-inch thick.

Requirements

Each selected participant will be asked to produce 125 finished pieces, plus two proofs for the Hand Papermaking archive and for exhibitions. While there is no restriction on additional artist proofs, we do request that artists acknowledge the portfolio project if the artist proofs are exhibited or published. In the portfolio, each piece will be placed in an 11 x 8½-inch protective folder labeled with the artist’s name.

About the Portfolio Series

IN BETWEEN will be the thirteenth in Hand Papermaking’s series of portfolios. Each focuses on a different aspect of the use of handmade paper. The series documents and preserves contemporary examples of distinctive handmade papers, highlights leading practitioners in the field, and also raises funds for the organization. Previous portfolios featured decorated papers, letterpress printing, papers from Nepal, photography, watermarks, printmaking, pulp painting, calligraphy, paper engineering, and intergenerational collaboration. To see samples and descriptions of past portfolios, please visit our Portfolios webpage.

If you have any questions about the submission process or the portfolio project in general, you can email us at michael@handpapermaking.org or call us at (651) 447-7143.

As is true for many of you reading this, I was shocked and saddened to learn about Elaine’s death last month, after a long illness (Hand Papermaking Newsletter, no. 125 (January 2019): 2–3).

I have known Elaine and Sidney, who survives her, since the very earliest days of the Friends of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum (now the FDH) that was formalized in 1981 at the annual meeting of the Book and Paper Group of the American Institute for Conservation. She was an officer in that fledging organization and a stalwart member ever since. I think it is true that she, with Sidney at her side, gave a presentation at every annual FDHPM/FDH meeting from about 1983 until just a few years ago. And she contributed articles to the HPN for almost two decades (her daughter Donna Koretsky now writes that column).

Especially when it comes to our understanding of hand papermaking in Asia, Elaine ranks as the most important paper historian this country has ever produced. She contributed more to our knowledge on that topic than anyone. She didn’t just follow in Dard Hunter’s footsteps, she and Sidney travelled down many more roads and saw first-hand many more papermakers in numerous countries. She and Sidney often endured perilous situations, all the while exhibiting stubborn determination to find whatever they sought. Later, she retold the stories of those journeys with remarkable candor and a sense of humor. She and Sidney documented what they experienced visually, as well as recalled them in many books and articles, presentations, and workshops. She also founded the International Paper Museum in 1994, and some years before that co-founded Carriage House Paper in Brookline, Mass.

For all that Elaine has accomplished to bring the history of hand papermaking to us, we shall always be grateful and we shall never forget her.

Attention Papermaking Students!

Subscribe to Hand Papermaking magazine by September 30, and receive One Free Issue!

Hand Papermaking supports emerging artists, crafters, designers, and all young paper enthusiasts! For a limited time only, we are extending all student subscriptions to three issues (one-and-a-half year’s worth) for the price of two — a 33% savings on the cost of a regular subscription.

For 32 years, Hand Papermaking has been your source for information on the art of handmade paper. This May 11-20, help Hand Papermaking continue its mission and take advantage of fantastic paper-related items during our Annual Auction, where 100% of proceeds benefit Hand Papermaking.

Choose from over 90 bargains and one-of-a-kind lots such as supplies, tools, books on paper and book arts, fine handmade papers, art works, paper experiences, and much more!

There’s still time to see paper artist Kyoko Ibe’s work at the Stockton University Art Galleries. Her exhibition “once upon a time…” runs through November 18, culminating in a series of special events and performances featuring the artist.

It’s easy to support Hand Papermaking every time you make a purchase online with Amazon Smile.

Simply follow these four easy steps:

Visit smile.amazon.com.

Sign in to your Amazon account, and search for “Hand Papermaking Inc.“

Select “Hand Papermaking Inc.“

Begin shopping!

And that’s it. Be sure to go to smile.amazon.com every time you shop Amazon. As of May 2017, Amazon shoppers have raised more than $54 million for their favorite charities. We thank you for contributing to Hand Papermaking and helping us advance traditional and contemporary ideas in the art of making paper by hand.

We are looking for information to help steer the future of our flagship publication, Hand Papermaking magazine. If you are interested in our publication, but are currently not a subscriber, then you are our kind of people.

What’s more, as a thank you for your time and thoughtful responses we will offer you one FREE issue of our electronic newsletter—which is full of spirited and insightful writing, helpful tips, timely information about exhibitions and opportunities, and much more.

So come be a part of the Next Generation of Hand Papermaking (click HERE to go directly to the survey). And thank you in advance for your help!

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at michael@handpapermaking.org.